The Wasp's First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #44

Here is a first appearance which perfectly illustrates a common gap in the market: that between the importance of a character in the stories and the prestige of the title in which he was born.

La Guêpe is one of the founders of its publisher's most famous team. His debut occurred in a secondary series, with a shared summary, that few collectors followed at the time.

Two debuts in the same series

Let's start with the most expensive trap of this file, because it concerns two issues of the same title.

Tales to Astonish first hosted, in September 1961, the male character with whom the Wasp will then be associated. This is the number 27, and that's an important key in its own right.

La Guêpe arrived a year and a half later, at number 44 , put on sale on March 5, 1963.

Two characters, two first appearances, one series. An ad that sells "first appearance in Tales to Astonish" without specifying the number is therefore ambiguous — and ambiguity never works in the buyer's favor.

The printed price won't help you decide between the two: both numbers carry twelve cents. Only the numbering on the cover separates them.

The rule is simple:on this title, the number is authentic, not the name of the character or that of the series. Check it in the cover photo before committing.

The British edition

Second point of identification, less known but just as concrete.

This issue exists in two official editions: the American, bearing 12 cents, and an edition intended for the United Kingdom, carrying 9d— or nine pence in the old British currency.

For the rest, no difference: cover, story and publication date coincide. The only thing that changes is the price sticker.

The American market, which is the benchmark for these titles, historically values ​​pence copies lower than cent copies. A buyer who does not check this detail may pay the price of one to get the other.

Let us clarify to be fair: these British copies are neither counterfeits nor by-products. Many fans see it as the cheapest gateway to this act, and they have their own audience across the Channel. The problem is not their existence, but the silence of announcements about them.

A founder born in a secondary title

To understand this issue's position in the market, you have to understand what Tales to Astonish was in 1963.

It was not a series devoted to a single hero, but a title with a composite summary, heir to the science fiction and monster publications of the previous decade. One character occupied a portion of the issue, the rest going to short, independent stories.

This format has a direct consequence on what interests us. Titles with shared contents were less followed, less collected, and less preserved than series devoted to a hero. The reader did not subscribe to it in the same way, and he had little reason to keep his copies.

Let's add an element specific to this period: the star character of the title was not then a major figure in the catalog. There was no indication in March 1963 that this issue's newcomer would become a founding member of the publisher's best-selling team a few months later.

A final factor, this one material, aggravates the phenomenon. These titles were printed on the same cheap paper as the rest of the production, but they passed more often into the hands of casual buyers—readers attracted by the cover, not the series. A copy bought on impulse rarely ends up stored carefully.

The result is a narrow offering in good condition, comparable to that of other keys born in secondary titles - and incommensurate with the flagship series of the same year.

Lee and Kirby

The text is from Stan Lee , the boards of Jack Kirby. The presence of the second on a secondary title is not trivial and is worth a detour.

The designer then worked simultaneously on several series, including the most important in the catalog. His contribution to a title with a shared summary testifies to a production organization where the best authors circulated from one title to another according to the needs of the calendar.

For the collector, this point has practical value. A secondary key drawn by a major author benefits from a second source of demand: that of fans of the artist, who collect by signature and not by character. This demand is indifferent to fashions and adaptations.

What the number contains

The story, “The Creature From Kosmos!! », introduces a young woman from high society whose father is killed by a creature from elsewhere. She gains abilities and equipment, and chooses to fight alongside the series' established hero.

Two characteristics distinguish this debut from most female debuts of the period. The first has to do with initiative: the character is not saved or recruited, she request to act, and his motive – to avenge a relative – falls within the register usually reserved for male heroes.

A third point deserves attention, more discreet. Her equipment comes from a third party, but she obtains use of it by asking for it, following a negotiation. In a genre where powers fall from the sky or arise from an accident, a heroine who acquires hers through an agreement constitutes a notable exception for the time.

The second is his abilities. She flies and has ranged attacks, when her partner is confined to the ground. In terms of powers, she has a wider range than him from the start, something that later stories have rarely emphasized.

It remains to situate this story within the economy of the booklet: it only occupies part of it, in accordance with the format of the title. Buying this booklet means buying a summary of which only a portion concerns the character sought.

What followed

The subsequent trajectory explains why this issue is of interest today well beyond fans of secondary titles.

A few months after these debuts, she joined the initial core of the team which would become the best-selling in the catalog. This rank of founder only belongs to a handful of figures, and removing it would imply demolishing a centerpiece of the published universe.

The rest is long and discontinuous: periods of erasure, returns, taking responsibility within the team, changes of name and costume. The character experienced decades of underemployment before more recent critical re-evaluation.

For the collector, this story produces an interesting situation: a leading narrative status, associated with a price that has long remained modest. The lag is reduced, but it has not disappeared.

1963 with the publisher

Situating this issue in the production of its publisher helps to understand why it went unnoticed for a long time.

We are at the very beginning of the period that would transform a small house into a dominant player. The creations follow one another at a steady pace, but nothing is yet established: the print runs remain modest compared to those of the competition, and the reputation of the catalog is barely being built.

In this context, the composite titles served as a laboratory. We tried characters with less risk, without devoting an entire series to them. Many left no trace; a few became pillars.

This experimental function explains a characteristic of the current market: the keys from these titles have been revealed in successive waves, as the characters involved gained importance. Some have only been identified very recently, and it cannot be ruled out that others remain to be discovered in the summaries of this period.

For a curious buyer, this is a concrete lead: the neighboring issues of this one, in the same series and the same year, contain short stories that almost no one has read for sixty years.

Points to consider

Four examinations are required, to be carried out in the following order.

The number. Forty-four, not twenty-seven. This is the point that distinguishes this file from that of another character born in the same series.

The price sticker. Twelve cents for the American edition, nine pence for the British. Ask for a legible photo of the corner in question.

The state of the page block. The comics of 1963 are becoming more acidic; ask to see the edge of the block taken from the side, the only way to judge real browning.

Integrity. These issues included coupon pages. A lack, invisible on the cover, permanently downgrades the copy.

Where to start

Three options, depending on budget and objective.

Le founding issue in American edition constitutes the reference, and it is the only part which cannot be replaced if you aim for the origin.

L'British edition offers a significantly more accessible gateway to owning the same story and coverage, at a lower resale value.

THE later issues in the same series, where it makes its mark, offer the most economical route. They belong to the same context of relative rarity and cost a fraction of the founding number.

To learn more, see ourrating analysisand thekey numbers.

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